Duke of York's friend Goga Ashkenazi's topless shock in Saint-Tropez

Goga Ashkenazi, a close friend of the Duke of York, hosts a party in
Saint-Tropez at which Grace Jones's performance was interrupted by a topless
reveller.

The Duke of York's friend, Goga Ashkenazi hosted a raucous dinner in Saint-Tropez.

Tim Walker. Edited by Richard Eden

7:28AM BST 21 Jul 2011

The Duke of York, who is currently canoeing along the Hanbury River in Canada with some old school pals, will be upset to have missed a swell party.

Prince Andrew’s friend Goga Ashkenazi, hosted a dinner at her villa in Saint-Tropez for 350 of her closest chums, including Joan Collins, the film producer Lawrence Bender and the model Victoria Silvstedt, with 200 more joining them later.

Things really hotted up on the French Riviera when the singer Grace Jones performed in a black thong. A young woman, whom guests describe as a “party crasher”, jumped on stage and ripped off her top to “grind” with Jones, whose hits include Pull Up to the Bumper, before she was “escorted out by security”.

Fractious Mrs Gove

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is, no doubt, pleased that it’s the end of term at Westminster. His wife, Sarah Vine, is less enthusiastic about the summer holidays.

“It’s a fact that all husbands hate flying with their families,” says Vine, who has two children by the minister. “For some reason, the combination of overexcited offspring, fractious spouses, time pressure and lots of heavy luggage makes them grumpy.” It would, she adds, be “so much easier if they could just be checked in alongside the luggage”.

“I picture mine, trundling happily off on a conveyor belt, nose buried in a book, not to be seen again until arrival.”

Jo Wood is strictly racing

Since Jo Wood received her divorce settlement earlier this year, the ex-wife of the Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has been living life in the fast lane preparing for the Silverstone Classic Celebrity Challenge.

“I’m really nervous,” the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant tells Mandrake at the Kanaloa & Gallo Summer Red Party at 4 Hamilton Place in London. “I’ve been getting advice everywhere I go. Last night, someone told me that if you can see a bird in the sky, then you’re not concentrating, so I’m going to try and remember that.”

The Silverstone Classic, which is sponsored by the Telegraph, takes place this weekend. Wood, who moved into a £4 million property in Primrose Hill, north London, last month, says she has no time for romance: “I’m off men – I’m in love with my new house.”